Boyfriends
by DinoDina
Summary: Ianto had called Jack his boyfriend. It had been a bit of an accident, but now he couldn't help but wonder: was that what they were now? Probably. Janto oneshot. Fluff.


**Welcome! This contains a few spoilers for The Last Beacon and Serenity :D**

Several days after he and Owen returned from Hengoed, Ianto broke the news to Jack about Pat. There had been so many lies between them and Ianto wanted to avoid more repercussions.

"Huh," Jack said, mulling it over, "I think it was a good call."

And that was that. Some spectacular sex followed and Ianto could feel something shift between them, like a final piece falling into place.

Several days after that, Ianto was going through old reports in the tourist office when Owen joined him from the Hub. Jack had insisted on keeping them out of the field for the rest of the week, which was a welcome reprieve from the junk, slime, and homicidal aliens coming through the Rift, but also got boring fast.

Ianto happily put the reports aside and looked up at Owen. "Yes?"

"You told him."

"Yes."

Owen spared him a look of upset before giving up the game and sitting down. "Good. Not that I mind keeping that secret, but it's probably wrong for you to. Jack _is_ your _boyfriend_."

"_That's_ what you're here for?"

"Don't take the high ground, you took me to _Hengoed_." Owen grinned when Ianto winced at his pronunciation. "And I'm not here for anything dirty, I just want to know… how?"

Ianto lifted an eyebrow.

"Not like that! God, this is pathetic. What are you two doing, going steady? Or whatever outdated term he'd use, knowing that coat of his."

"It's a nice coat."

Owen gave him a disgusted look. "I don't want to know. Fine, deflect. Just know, you called Jack your boyfriend."

He grinned like he was waiting for something. Ianto didn't do him the courtesy of responding but Owen was right, in a way. The word had just slipped out, but after telling Jack the truth about Pat, Ianto couldn't help but wonder—was that what they were becoming?

It certainly seemed that way.

.oOo.

Later, when Tommy was gone, Ianto begged off for the night and went to see Tosh. He wanted to be with her as much as he wanted to be with Jack—something else had happened between them, something that was dangerously close to a confession—but now was not the time for being a lovesick schoolboy. He carried a bottle of wine and a box of freshly baked cookies; it was no different than what Tosh had done for him, months ago.

"You didn't have to," Tosh said instead of a greeting when she opened the door, but Ianto shot her a look and she moved inside. "But thanks."

Ianto liked being in Tosh's flat. It was large, almost as big as Owen's, but where Ianto always got a feeling that Owen had such a big flat to fill the emptiness, Tosh's was warm and cozy. It was precisely the sort of place to go to feel better—and he's used it as such often.

She'd brought Tommy here.

Ianto sighed and opened his arms for a hug.

Whatever Tommy had been to Tosh, they hadn't even had a chance at a chance. Ianto didn't know which was better: for Tommy to leave a hero or wake up one year and find her gone. It didn't bear thinking about now so he let Tosh go to fetch the ice-cream.

They set up a film—a recommendation from Tommy, who'd seen it in the sixties—and curled up under a blanket.

"I knew it would happen," Tosh said, "I just didn't think he'd die. I think that's why I never looked him up."

Ianto skipped the empty platitudes; sincere or not, he knew that they'd change nothing. "Tell me about him?"

"You first."

"Tell you about Tommy?"

Tosh laughed wetly. "About Jack."

"He's Jack." Even the thought made Ianto smile. "He wasn't at Torchwood when they brought Tommy in, you know. He was fighting. For what it's worth, I think Jack didn't want to send Tommy back."

"He had to."

"Exactly."

"You're right, it's… not a lot. Right before he left, Tommy asked me if I thought we—humanity—were worth saving, and I said yes." It was no wonder—with Tommy by her side, of course the world had seemed worth it. Ianto knew the disillusionment all too well. "But now…"

Stuck in his own romantic optimism, Ianto shook his head. "It's worth it. Tommy thought so. He went back because it was worth it. Even if he didn't remember in the end, I think he knew it deep down."

Tosh smiled wetly. "I hope you're right. But you've got reason to be positive, you've got a boyfriend."

"Must you?"

"Owen's idea of comfort includes making fun of your two."

"Fine, maybe he _is_ my boyfriend."

The gentle but genuine smile that lit up Tosh's face made the admission worth it.

.oOo.

Now that Tosh and Owen knew, at least, Ianto was beginning to think that maybe it was actually happening—him and Jack—that maybe it was going to work out.

Their idea of support was annoying at best: neither could keep from teasing, Owen moreso than Tosh, who occasionally sent them supportive glances. It was a brand of support Ianto had experienced for a few months in London after he and Lisa had started dating. Which was exactly what he and Jack were doing—they had plans to go to dinner, but before they could finalize the restaurant, a call came in about a suspiciously crashed lorry.

There was no rest for the weary.

As a matter of fact, there were no dinner dates for the weary, either.

By the time Ianto was alone with Jack, two days had passed, Gwen's insensitivity had added tension within the team, her fiancé had a hole in his shoulder, and Ianto himself was too bruised and tired to contemplate anything but sleep.

"We stopped them from doing more harm," Ianto said; it wasn't his fault, but he knew Jack felt guilty.

Nevertheless, Jack nodded. "That's not a bad turnout."

They settled closer against each other; now that time had passed and the anger had dissipated, it was easy to count the space whale as a success. They hadn't been able to save it, but there were no further fatalities. And Rhys knew about Torchwood. For all that Gwen had crossed a line, Ianto _understood_. He'd have done the same in her shoes.

"Rhys asked me if I was gay," Jack said with a laugh. "I said no, so he asked if we were dating."

"And?"

"Well, we are, aren't we?"

"Yeah," Ianto agreed with a final smile before closing his eyes and getting comfortable for sleep. "We are."

.oOo.

So there was really no question over who would go undercover at Serenity Plaza, even if Jack hadn't been an enthusiastic volunteer. They weren't yet living together—although they were steadily moving in that direction—and although it was a slightly terrifying concept, Ianto was feeling good about it.

They rented a house and furniture. It was nothing like what Ianto would have bought for himself—but he was Ifan now, not Ianto. Jack was Ken.

Ken had proposed to Ifan, their backstory stated.

"They'll be able to marry soon, in the big scheme of things," Jack said when Ianto questioned the fact. "Remember, it's a gated community. We have to be as good as married."

"You practically are," Owen snorted from where he was leaning over Tosh's shoulder double-checking the paper trail.

Ianto rolled his eyes to hide the awkwardness the statement made him feel.

It wasn't that far-fetched, really. Ken and Ifan were happy, stable, and in love; if he lasted a few more years, it wouldn't be too out there to think of him and Jack at a similar point in their relationship. Objectively. They were happy and in love now, after all.

Ianto glossed over the thought and wondered if he could burn a few of Ken's shirts.

A few weeks in, Serenity Plaza was driving Ianto mad. The barbecues, the lawn contests, the creepy synchronized talking, the innuendos. Being the Ifan to Jack's Ken was hard. Ken had a closet full of Hawaiian shirts and a smile full of teeth. Jack, on the other hand, liked spooning Ianto almost as much as he liked being spooned. He looked gorgeous when he washed the car and when he was poring over a new cookbook. He was all jokes until he was kissing Ianto—then, it was real.

Most of it was real.

Even the alien neighbors.

The alien neighbors were all too real. At the end of it all, Ianto didn't miss the rented house and furniture. As crazy as it was, he missed being Ifan. In the moment, just for a bit, he wondered how living together would be for real. Maybe even without Torchwood.

.oOo.

"Where to next, boyfriend?" Jack asked once the UNIT clean-up crew had gone.

"Bed," Ianto said decisively. "There should be a hotel somewhere on the way to Cardiff, there's no way we're driving all the way back after all this."

They checked in as Jack and Ianto and placed their guns on top of the bedside tables, not inside the drawers. _That_ was their normal.

The last time Ianto had stayed in a hotel, he'd been in Hengoed with Owen.

It was far more enjoyable with Jack. His _boyfriend_—that was how they'd checked in. Like a schoolboy, Ianto couldn't hide the smile at the word, the flutter in his heart. They'd survived once again and were on the way to bigger and better things.

Starting with a good night's sleep in each other's arms and ending with—what did it matter? Ianto knew that nothing would keep them from surviving and reaching for happiness. Today, a hotel; tomorrow, Ianto's flat; the day after, Jack's bunker. A few weeks later, it wouldn't be far-fetched to give living together officially another shot.


End file.
